Lately, I’ve been asking the Lord to show me how to get over more and more into inspired praise and worship. One scripture He has quickened to me is Judges 5:11. It speaks of the children of Israel and says, “Far from the noise of the archers, among the watering places, there they shall recount the righteous acts of the Lord ….”
Other translations say: “They bore constantly in mind the works of God. They without intermission recalled actively and loudly the miracles of their God. They did not forget through proclaiming the marvelous acts and the works of God.”
If you read through the Bible, you’ll see that the Israelites really knew how to do that! Sometimes during their holy feast times, they’d spend whole days and weeks just rehearsing the wonderful things God had done for them. King David appointed an entire staff of Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord—to commemorate, thank, and praise Him full time.
As New Testament believers, however, we ought to be better at praising God than those Old Testament saints were. After all, we have a better Covenant. We have more blessings and benefits to rehearse and proclaim. We ought to be the most prolific psalmists this earth has ever seen.
The Bible says so! It tells us to
“… be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18 – 20). It urges us to “Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16 – 17).
As Holy Ghost filled, Bible-believing Christians, we should be the all-time best when it comes to praising the Lord!
Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 16:1 – 36
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”